Monmouth County Engineer Joe Ettore traces the path of the planned walkway, which continues off the proposed new bridge (in yellow) and up a series of ramps along the the west side of the rail line to Shrewsbury Avenue. Below, an elevation rendering of the bridge. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Monmouth County officials say they have solved the daunting sidewalk-to-nowhere conundrum they faced in designing a new bridge to connect Red Bank and Middletown at West Front Street.

The fix? Create a walk-and-bike path that will bypass the narrow rail trestle on the Red Bank side, Monmouth County Engineer Joe Ettore said Wednesday.

In what was billed as a preview of a fuller public presentation to come in the spring, Monmouth County Engineer Joe Ettore told Red Bank’s mayor and council that the revised plan for the new Hubbards Bridge also calls for a construction timetable that will detour traffic around the span for just three or four months of the projected 18-to-24-month buildout.

And when it’s all done, the borough will end up with a new parcel of green space overlooking the upper Navesink River, he said.

Two weeks before he took his own life, Councilman John Lehnert had informed Mayor Mike Halfacre that he was ending his re-election bid, Halfacre says.

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Though Fair Haven’s Republican committee has suggested three candidates to fill the council seat left empty by John Lehnert, who committed suicide last week, the borough council has no intention of filling the spot on an interim basis, Mayor Mike Halfacre tells redbankgreen.

In fact, GOP officials had already begun the process of replacing Lehnert on the November 2 ballot after Lehnert told Halfacre about three weeks ago that he was ending his re-election bid, Halfacre says. Lehnert’s withdrawal had not previously been publicly disclosed.

“I think out of respect for John we should leave the seat vacant until the end of his term” on December 31, Halfacre said.

Having safeguarded a borough-owned riverfront property from sale and possible development last year, Cindy Burnham went to the Red Bank Council earlier this week hoping to get quick approval for a name for the parcel:

River Cove Waterfront Path.

Burnham says the site was identified as ‘River Cove’ on deeds she uncovered as part of her research into the history of the site. The ‘path’ part connotes the walkway Burnham and other volunteers hacked out of the weeds at the site to the bank of the Navesink River  the only place in the borough where someone can get direct and easy access to the waterway.

Her aim was to get a quick OK for the name and clearance to erect a sign and two benches on the property in time for a self-imposed April deadline  an opening ceremony at the start of the kayaking and canoeing season.

But Burnham’s efforts turned to evident exasperation, and later embarrassment, when the question was kicked over to the Parks & Rec committee for discussion and Councilwoman Juanita Lewis  the liaison to the committee  suggested letting the children of Red Bank take a crack at coming up with a name.

Robert A. Herold, owner of The Fence Guys in Highlands, has asked redbankgreen to clarify the identity and employment of the suspect named in our March 16 story about the theft of borough-owned fencing on Locust Avenue in Red Bank.

Charged in the theft was Herold’s 29-year-old son, Robert F. Herold, who is known as Frankie. Contrary to what the younger man told Red Bank police, he was not an employee of The Fence Guys at the time of the arrest, the older man says. Though Frankie Herold has worked for the company in the past, he has not done so for several months, according to his father.

In no way way the younger Herold acting on behalf of The Fence Guys at the time of his arrest, says Robert A. Herold.